AllFreeNovel
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Someone hits the target and into the tank I go. The cold water is a relief against the heat of the day, but I shoot to the surface and pull myself up to see her above the crowd.
There’s a small smile on her face as she turns back to the little girl now standing in front of her. It hits me harder than the fastball that dropped me into the tank. I miss her. I miss her picking on me and flirting with me and trying to get under my skin as much as I miss the quieter Ash who watches old interviews to find out what kind of pizza I like.
I like her.
I groan and slap my head because this wasn’t supposed to happen, and the next thing I know, I’m back in the water as another ball finds the target.
I am drowning in this and I don’t know what to do anymore.
We dance around each other for hours. She’s everywhere, lending a hand. No one recognizes her, I don’t think, but she’s a pretty woman in jeans and a T-shirt. As the day goes on, her smile warms.
I haul things around. Beg for another round in the dunk tank when the afternoon heats up. I make a private donation, sign autographs, and pose for selfies. All these pics of me by myself will have people speculating that it’s over between me and Ashley, so I need to post one with her.
I find her at the end of the day, sitting on a retaining wall, eating pink cotton candy, and watching the fundraiser wind down. “Hey.”
She gives me a wary look. “Hey.”
I shove my hands in my pockets, my fingers brushing my phone, reminding me we’ve got our fake relationship to fall back on. I pull it out and sit next to her.
Ashley pops a piece of cotton candy in her mouth. She’s not wearing lipstick, for once, and the natural pink of her lips is so soft and pretty, I get distracted for a good twenty seconds staring while she waits me out.
Right. Fake relationship.
“We need to post a photo together,” I say as I wrap my arm around her and raise my phone. She stiffens, then relaxes as she exhales. Without a word, she tears off a chunk of cotton candy and turns to face me. She won’t meet my eyes and she’s not staring at my lips. Maybe my nose. It’s a tiny cut to something in my chest. Pride, maybe, because I broke something real between us. I gave her pleasure, then acted like I was above receiving the same from her, all but telling her I only did it to shut her up.
I take a deep breath and lower my phone. “Ash, I—”
She stuffs the cotton candy in my mouth before I can say anything. It melts away to nothing, but so do my words because she finally looks into my eyes and I can see the pain in hers.
I hurt her. Fuck. This isn’t who I am or who I want to be.
She glances away and tears off another chunk of cotton candy. “This time, take the picture.”
Cora walks by, shooting me a warning look. I call out to her, handing her my phone when she comes back. “Get a picture of us?” She takes my phone but gives me thatI’m not disappointed, butlook again.
Ashley closes her eyes, squares her shoulders, and takes a deep breath. Her chin tilts up, her entire body shifts, and when she opens her eyes, I’m staring into Ashley Foley fromLove on the Line. She’s slipped back into her armor.
She moves the cotton candy toward my mouth, an impish but fake smile on her face. I search her eyes and find no trace of the hurt, no trace of Ash. She’s a phenomenal actress. She stays in character when I grab her wrist and give her my best seductive smile.
The cotton candy hits my tongue, all sugary sweet as the world dissolves around us. I trap her hand, closing my mouth over her fingers. Her armor melts like spun sugar, her eyes going wide. Her lips part in surprise as I kiss her fingertips. She tugs her hand free and balls it into a fist, her teeth sinking into her lower lip, her eyes tight.
“Ash,” I whisper. I don’t have her hand anymore and I want to touch her. I settle for tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m—”
She brushes me away and stands. “Did you get a good one?” she asks Cora.
“About twenty,” Cora smiles, handing my phone to Ash. “I need to help take some stuff down—why don’t you two wait by the car? Or take a walk through town.”
Whatever Cora hoped to accomplish in keeping us apart must be done. I suspect it was letting me realize what an ass I’ve been.
“I’ll help,” Ash says quickly, shoving my phone in my direction.
I grab it before she drops it. “I’ll help too.”
“Thanks, kids. Gabe, I think Manny could use a hand.”
Ash doesn’t look over her shoulder as she walks off with Cora.
Something cuts deeper in my chest and I have a long hour of knocking down tables and taking down marquees to think. Ashley cares about me or I wouldn’t have hurt her when I turned down her blow job. Maybe this changes some things. Not everything, but enough that maybe we can make this fake relationship a little more real. If she can forgive me.
